Iga Swiatek suffered an unintended consequence of the Italian Open final on Saturday, where Jasmine Paolini handed Coco Gauff a shock defeat in straight sets. Swiatek was already out of the tournament, losing in the Round of 32 to Danielle Collins.
On Saturday, Paolini won her first big title on clay, winning 6-4, 6-2 to lift the trophy in Rome in front of her home fans. As a result, she moved into the World No. 4 spot, pushing Swiatek all the way down to World No. 5.
Swiatek was No. 2 at the start of the tournament. But losing early while being the defending champion hit her points tally hard, allowing Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Paolini to leapfrog her.
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Now, as a result, Swiatek will be the No. 5 seed at the French Open at the end of the month, where she is also the three-time defending champion. More concerning, it means the Pole will not even have her own quarter at Roland Garros, and will meet a Top-4 player very early in the tournament.
Swiatek is woefully out of form in the lead-up to the French Open. She is yet to win a title this year, finishing as a semifinalist at the Australian Open for her best result. On clay, the five-time Grand Slam champion finished as a quarterfinalist at the Stuttgart Open before earning another semifinal run at the Madrid Open.
What Iga Swiatek said after Italian Open final loss
Speaking to the press after her loss to Danielle Collins at the Italian Open, Iga Swiatek admited shortcomings in her game. The Pole conceded that her mindset was not "present" and that she was focussing too much on her mistakes instead of looking at what she has to improve.
"I don't know. Well, I think I just wasn't there present to, like, fight and to compete. I focused on mistakes. It's my mistake, and I'm not doing things right. So yeah, the focus is on the wrong things from my side and I'll try to change that," Swiatek said.
Regarding her expectations for French Open, the former World No. 1 kept it ambiguous, saying that she was not planning that far ahead with how things were going for her at the moment.
"I'm not able to play my game. I'll just try to, you know, as I said, change my mindset a little bit, try to regroup and just focus day by day working," Iga Swiatek said.
Aryna Sabalenka will be the No. 1 seed at the French Open, followed by Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini.
